IM BACK!!!

After more than a year of not being able to update my blog site, here I am, alive and kicking....

I will be posting blogs more often now... =)

A day of prayer called Recollection

Yesterday was very fun. It was full of bonding, sharing, stories, unity amidst diversity and above all serenity which made us realize how God works within us and in every day of our lives.

Our day started with a very exciting trip from Ateneo grounds to a secret venue. The Campus Ministry holds back the information as to where the venue is so that latecomers would not be able to follow - a very effective strategy indeed. After a guessing game trip, we finally arrived at Manresa by the Sea at Talomo, Davao City owned by Ateneo de Davao. As its name suggests, it is along a beach coast which is a perfect venue with a perfect ambiance for reflections.

Arriving at the venue was like arriving at a holy ground because of its solemnity. We could only hear the rushing sound of the waves from the sea which was very pleasing to the ears.

Our recollection started with a Para-Liturgy and was followed with a fulfilling heavy snack – literally heavy.

After enjoying the opulent merienda we were then given the chance to look back into the occurrences on those days which we can consider memorable and significant as well. We drew it in a paper with drawings of reels as its frames.

Once done, we were group into small groups and were instructed to share a bit of our life’s experience. It is there where we realized that we can see God’s undying love for us through the incidents that all of us have had. There were stories which were inspiring. Some were entertaining and some are agonizing as well. But as much as I want to share those, I must keep it a secret since I have to stand for what we promised, “what we hear, leave it here” and I’m referring to the stories that we have heard which we should leave there.

Big Group Sharing followed the small groupsharing where we shared general thoughts on listening to other people’s stories and how it affect us and how we realized God’s divine prominence in our own lives.

A sumptuous lunch followed. All of us were in great awe as we approached our respective tables. Bountiful is such a great word to best describe the food that we were to enjoy. And guessed who prayed? Yours truly of course! It was a privilege.

Everyone loves SIESTA! But instead of lying down and taking a nap, everyone gathered on the seashore and took the opportunity of taking pictures – for safe keeping.

The bell rang when it was time to start the next session.

Writing our impressions and thoughts on a person seems fun. We had this activity where a piece of paper was placed in our backs and everyone got a chance to write their own views, thoughts and insights about the person whom their writing for. It was enjoyable indeed!

The most striking message that I got was from Mr. Justin Abando where he said, “Claide! Be an inspiration to other youth leaders. If we were to achieve change, it will start with us! Give hope to our country!” It was a very challenging message and it stimulated my senses because a thought came into my mind that some people reminds me of my greatest responsibility which is to be an agent of change. A million thanks to Mr. Abando for his message.

The whole afternoon was devoted into a lot of writing activities. After the earlier activity, another followed. It was letter-writing where we were informed and reminded of the importance of words that we seem to forget when we use the different technologies available which tend to bastardize the essence and sincerity of words in expressing ones emotions. The letters that we made will be sent to the recipients for free be it local, national or international.

I personally wrote three letters. One for my cousin who just flew to Singapore to seek for greener pasture and I guess I grabbed the opportunity of a free letter delivery (laughs). Another letter was for my cousin in Cebu thanking her and her family for the warm accommodation that they had when I was there extending my stay in Cebu after attending the SK National Congress. The last letter was for someone I adore so much. Someone who is an epitome of discipline, hardwork and perseverance. I don’t personally know the person but I look up to that person because of that person’s achievements despite that person’s early age. (I would like to ask an apology at this point for being redundant in using the words “that person” since I don’t like to give a clue whether that person is a girl or a boy, a man or woman, or a lady or gentleman). I do hope and pray that the letter would reach that person and would send a reply.

We started the recollection with a para-liturgy therefore we should end it with a para-liturgy as well. It was a very beautiful liturgy. Latest songs were used which had a youthful approach in praising and worshiping God.

As the sun sets, it was time to return to our school campus. It was a trip full of fun. Picture taking here and there were what the people did in the bus. It was then I asked myself, “Kailan kaya ito mauulit?” I had one of the greatest days in my life. I got closer to my classmates and I got a chance to be on a silent mode for a day to think and ponder on the Journey that I had. As Lea Salonga would sing, “What a journey it has been…”